


Everything You Touch Crumbles

by deltanox



Series: I Am End [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Execution, Gen, Hope vs. Despair, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Ultimate Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29374770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltanox/pseuds/deltanox
Summary: And in that moment, Tsumugi Shirogane feels true despair for the first time in her life, as she can do nothing but wave goodbye as everything she had worked for, her entire world— Danganronpa— crumbles at her very feet.The Cosplay Copycat Criminal finally faces the end they have all come to together. Small bit of expansion on canonical information.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro & Shirogane Tsumugi, Harukawa Maki & K1-B0, Harukawa Maki & K1-B0 & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki & Shirogane Tsumugi, Harukawa Maki & Yumeno Himiko, K1-B0 & Saihara Shuichi, K1-B0 & Shirogane Tsumugi, K1-B0 & Yumeno Himiko, Saihara Shuichi & Shirogane Tsumugi, Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Shirogane Tsumugi & Yumeno Himiko
Series: I Am End [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157783
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Everything You Touch Crumbles

Shuichi jabs his hand at her, full of resolution. “Our hope will defeat your despair!” 

In that moment, she thinks she could faint with happiness, and barely holds in her swoon. Just exactly as she’d scripted, but it sounds _so much better_ when he actually says it! 

_Oh, every single season, they always said some sort of variation on that line, but it never got old. Hope versus despair!_

She’d had her chance to utter it last season, the former Ultimate Survivor at her side, but she hadn’t known just how _exciting_ it was to be on the receiving end of that statement. Such confidence! The character development was astounding, and the viewers _loved it._ The detective forges on, his cry rallying Maki and Himiko.

“I’m sure… this is the end of despair. And the beginning of hope. Everything ends here. Everything.” Something reawakens in both of their eyes, and ah! 

_There they are! Yes, yes, yes, give me those hopeful expressions. Trial Room Camera B3, zoom in on that right there! It’s perfect!_ Still in cosplay, she lets out a mad giggle, savoring her ‘fangirl’ moment. 

Flames flicker in red eyes as the two girls rouse, and slowly, Himiko nods in understanding. She can’t wait to see the looks on their face when she reveals her plot twist. It was going to be groundbreaking. Shattering every single expectation that character and audience had, for only her superiors knew this season’s final revelation. Just a bit more, and then… ! 

Ripe for her picking.

* * *

_It’s fiction. It’s always been fiction. That’s the truth of this whole game._

Finally, they understand, and the hope that had burned so brightly in them wavers, threatening to be extinguished by despair’s chill. 

“... Hope’s Peak Academy… it’s… fictional? We’re all just fictional characters… ? So this was all a show… this whole killing game!” She giggles in confirmation, switching madly back and forth, watching as the audience goes wild over seeing familiar faces and catchphrases. Chiaki Nanami! Kiyotaka Ishimaru! Sakura Oogami! Gundham Tanaka! Kyoko Kirigiri!

Settling on Hiyoko Saionji, the cosplayer leans forward, hands on her hips. “Did you forget what season of Danganronpa this is? You guys are dumber than ants.” Adrenaline fuels her body, enabling her to swap cosplays even faster than she’d thought capable of.

Shuichi’s eyes are wide. “... V… 3. V3… Fifty-three… the fifty-third season… This is what the outside world has wanted for so long?”

 _Poof!_ Familiar pink-blonde pigtails return. “The outside world craves despair! This killing game will end in despair! Everyone wants to feel despair! Despair _is Danganronpa!”_ With well-practiced muscle memory, she hits all of Junko’s poses, watching as they clench their jaws, but are unable to say anything. 

_Keep pushing, just a little more so they choose hope…_

Watching from the chair, Monokuma cackles wildly. “The killing game will live on forever!” 

“... I will never give up hope.” Kiibo breaks their shell-shocked silence, words hushed.

“Huh? What hope?” The voice of Junko Enoshima is unenthusiastic, parsing out his next words into white noise, but she is _elated._ He continues to speak, and to her delight, it’s exactly on script. Not that she expected anything else. 

“The outside world doesn’t just want despair. It wants hope, too. If our voices have reached the outside world, then what my inner voice is telling me is— ” 

_Now time to crush their spirits._ Blinking innocently at them, she points at the robot. Specifically, the tuft of metallic hair that sticks straight up to the sky, betraying its true function. “Oh, your inner voice? That’s the voice of the outside world.”

“... What?” She smiles at him. It had been her idea— audience participation! Who _wouldn’t_ want to be a part of Danganronpa? 

“I know ‘cuz I wrote your plotline, too. There’s no way I wouldn’t know who that is you’re hearing. That’s the voice of the outside world… you’re the audience surrogate.” She finishes her explanation, and their expressions of utter hopelessness delight her.

“An… audience survey? The voice I relied on for guidance… was just the audience answering survey questions?!” Kiibo looks horrified at the revelation, but she can only beam more.

“That antenna on your head lets you receive their answers. When your antenna broke and you went crazy, that was a big problem for us! We got flooded with complaints from the audience!” 

“But that’s not your only role… you’re also the audience’s camera.” Aoi Asahina’s voice is light, cheery. 

“C-camera…?” 

Her finger shifts straight to his face. “Your eyes… are the eyes of the audience itself!” 

“... The audience’s eyes… ?” Knowing that millions of people are watching her _right now,_ she stares straight at Kiibo, hoping that they’ll appreciate her acknowledgement of their presence. 

“The outside world has been watching through your eyes the whole time! It lets them feel like they’re really a part of the Danganronpa world! And it’s all thanks to you!” She claps her hands happily. 

“That’s why I’m _so_ glad you survived all the way through! Cuz now I can use you to plunge the outside world into despair!” Bit by bit, piece by piece, she can see the robot die inside, bringing them one step closer to the climax of what every season of Danganronpa had concluded with.

_Hope will triumph over despair!_

* * *

All according to plan. He’d fallen hook, line, and sinker, going off on a speech about how he was carrying the outside world’s hope. Well, Kiibo wasn’t wrong there, the audience always ate it all up… but this was merely a ruse! An elaborate concoction for the show to continue even after her fourth wall-shattering conclusion!

“...No! As long as we never give up, there will always be hope! If it will bring hope to everyone and the outside world, I will gladly sacrifice myself... Even if it destroys my body, I will defeat despair!”

Oh, oh, oh, this was getting _good._ Now he was offering himself up as a sacrifice for hope! There was _no_ way they could pass up this opportunity, not when punishing Kiibo would result in a clearly despairing end! They _had_ to pick hope!

As Makoto Naegi, her expression becomes determined. “In order for hope to win, there needs to be one more sacrifice. Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko. One of them needs to sacrifice themselves… or hope can’t win.”

Seeing their hesitance, she continues to wheedle them with sweet talk. Kyoko's soothing, sugar-glazed words of “You don’t need to choose the hard way... No one expects you guys to do that,” fill their ears (she knows the effect the other Ultimate Detective would have) and in a chorus of characters, she repeats the same words that had once united each season finale.

Hiyoko throws up her arms. “There’s no reason to go outside! Let’s stay here **_together._ **”

“Won’t you… stay here **_together?_ **” Sayaka Maizono blushes prettily as if she’d been confessed to.

Mikan Tsumiki clutches her heart, eyes dreamy. “Let’s all stay **_together…_ **”

“I want to stay here with you…” The ‘ ** _together’_ **is omitted, but the appeal is undeniable. Earnestly, Chihiro Fujisaki looks to the ground, flushing. 

Chiaki’s gentle voice, hand placed sincerely over her heart hammers another nail in the coffin. “I think everyone will feel _a lot_ better after they vote for _Kiibo…”_

“C’mon, let’s stay **_together._ ** Pleeease?” Mahiru Koizumi drags out the last word, voice teasingly persuasive.

Finally, back to Junko Enoshima. “ ** _Together…_ ** okay?” 

_You can’t kill him. You can’t! Because you_ **_won’t!_ ** _You can’t bear to sacrifice him! Because he’s your friend!_

“Don’t let her fool you! Despair won’t end this killing game! Only **hope** will!” The trial room wheels about, and a cacophony of voices yell back and forth, while the other three’s gazes ping-pong back and forth, unsure of who to focus on.

The fashionista grins at him viciously. “That’s right! This is a story that ends with _**despair!**_ ” 

“I won’t let you do that! I will destroy all your despair! Destroy it all… until not a trace of it remains! And I will save everyone!” Kiibo’s hands are clenched on his podium, while Monokuma continues to laugh, fanning the flames. In the back, silent tears stream down Shuichi’s cheeks.

She’s had her fun now, and relents. “Huuh? How’s not giving up gonna help you, huh? Huh?” Nekomaru bursts forth.

“Even if you won’t give up, as long as you don’t sacrifice someone el—”

“... I’ll sacrifice myself.” The assassin's tone is defeated.

_Things could not have gone more perfectly. This would be the season to end all seasons! A noble sacrifice so the girl could be reunited with her star-crossed lover (literally)! It's almost enough to make me rewatch that anime... oh, nevermind._

“What?” Shuichi blinks.

“If Kiibo and I sacrifice ourselves… then Shuichi and Himiko live, right? Then they can… survive this absurd killing game.”

“... Maki?” 

“After listening to Kiibo, I’ve decided… I don’t want this killing game to end in despair. That would just piss me off.” The assassin’s cheeks puff out slightly, before her face morphs into one of resolution.

_One more push… then my game will be complete._

The cosplayer goes straight for the kill. “Even if you only feel that way cuz I wrote you like that? Just like with _Kaito…”_

She’s clearly hit a massive sore spot, as red eyes glow angrily. “Even then… I’ll choose that ending if it means I can kill you. Even if I have to sacrifice my life… I _will_ kill you.”

“Sacrifice? Wait, Maki!” Shuichi reaches out towards the brunette, but she turns away from him.

“I’m sorry… I’ve already made up my mind.” 

Across the room, Himiko’s lips tremble, nose starting to run and tears brimming at her eyes. “B-but, what’s going to happen to us? Can we really go back to the outside world?”

They all look so helpless, so desolate. “What, indeed? I told you over and over there’s nothing for you out there.” Surely, their breaking point is near.

Kiibo shakes his head. “No, once the audience sees this ending, I’m sure they’ll help us. Everything is going to be okay! We’ll definitely find hope— ” 

“What do you mean, hope?” An exhausted voice interrupts him.

“What?” The robot freezes, hands raised in shock, taken aback.

“It’s because of hope that this whole thing is happening!” Shuichi’s face is dark, and he spits out the offending word. Oh? Was her protagonist going to spice things up and drag them back down into despair after all?

He forges on. “Tsumugi doesn’t want to see us fall into despair! She wants us to believe in hope! The reason why this madness has gone on fifty-three times… the audience wants to see hope defeat despair! It’s Hope’s Peak Academy all over again!” Perhaps she should reserve her judgement. 

“Don’t you see? _**Despair**_ is the only choice!” 

_… Previous statement amended,_ she thinks. The two continue to argue back and forth, before _okay, that’s enough now,_ and Monokuma slams his gavel on the throne. “So let’s start Voting Time!” 

“... I want to ask one last thing.” Shuichi turns to face her, and _how could she not indulge her dear protagonist?_

“What is it?” The cosplayer tilts her glasses, light glinting off them menacingly.

“If hope wins this final vote, Kiibo and Maki will sacrifice themselves… and you, Tsumugi, the loser, will also be punished. Correct? What kind of punishment will they receive? Please, tell me what it is.”

“............” Her bias aside, this is a very strange question to be receiving, and she honestly doesn’t feel like answering it. _Get on with the show!_ Monokuma’s scratchy voice serves as her liaison.

“Why should I tell you? I never said anything about a punishment, did I?” Now that he’s spoken, she can join in safely.

Kiyotaka takes the stage, commanding voice piercing the tension. “That’s right! The punishment isn’t the problem right now! The problem is—” 

“No, that _IS_ the problem. Because if the punishment is what I think it is, then… everything would make sense. Including why Rantaro participated in another killing game.” Upon seeing Kiibo’s questioning face, Shuichi’s lips purse.

“You know the reason why, Kiibo. If you really are connected to the outside world, then I want you to find the answer.” _He’s too perceptive for his own good. Way, way too perceptive. Well played, Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective._

* * *

Kiibo gasps after a long pause. “The punishment… it must be that we participate in the next killing game!” A punishment? No… this is a _reward,_ if anything else _._

“What?” Maki’s face pales, while Shuichi nods with an inscrutable expression they’d all come to equate with understanding.

“The punishment after the final vote… is to participate in another killing game. That’s what Rantaro was talking about. Something similar must have happened in the last killing game, and he was given a choice. He sacrificed himself… and was forced to participate in another killing game. All this means is… if we choose hope here, the killing game won’t end.” 

_Exactly. They were now in her shoes, exactly one season ago._ She remembers Season 52 like it was yesterday. It had been her, Rantaro, and two others. In a heartbeat, the Ultimate Adventurer had volunteered to sacrifice himself in the name of hope, and after careful deliberation, she’d followed him as the Ultimate Seamstress. Through thick and thin, they’d stuck it through it all together, so they’d go down the same way. Or so they thought.

At least, _he_ thought. In order for a more authentic experience, she’d demanded that her memories be temporarily suppressed, so it was no surprise to her when they’d woken up from the simulation. But as for Rantaro? Her lips curve. He hadn’t taken it well, not for a long time. It had taken a lot of sweet talk for him to consider returning to Season 53, and she was sure if it wasn’t for her letting him in on her position as scriptwriter (mastermind, she giggles), he wouldn’t have come back.

And now he was dead. For now. He’d come back though. They all would.

“Tsumugi will be the mastermind. Kiibo will still represent the viewers, and Maki will be the new Ultimate Survivor. The killing game will begin again. Don’t you see? If hope wins, the killing won’t stop! It’s because hope wins that killing won’t stop! It’s what the people want… they want hope to win, they want the happy ending! That’s how the killing game has gone on fifty-three times! That’s why I’m going to reject that hope.”

Izuru Kamukura’s flat voice fills the room, apathy dripping from his every word. “So it’s despair? You’re going to choose despair to end the killing game? How boring. But this is fine,” she switches into Celestia Ludenberg, “our audience loves despair, so this will please them too.” 

It’s been a while since this fan favorite had come out, _so,_ she supposes, _he should get some screen time._ A flood of comments barrage the screens as Nagito Komaeda appears. “After all, even if despair wins, the killing game still won’t end.” The statement completely overloads the system, causing it to lag from the sheer volume of messages, and a quick gaze back at them shows a variety of adoring faces. 

_> Omg he noticed me! _ _Nagito, can you say hi???_

“Then… hope has to win this game, too. If we continue to win for hope, then this killing game will surely end someday!” Kiibo still looks unconvinced, gritting his teeth at Shuichi’s proposal.

Shuichi shakes his head violently, frustrated. “No, you don’t get it! It’s not going to end, it’s going to keep happening! Over and over!” 

“Then what are we supposed to do?” 

_Don’t you see? There’s no way to win! Despair, hope, it doesn’t matter, because either way, Danganronpa will live on! The audience loves, loves, loves you so much!_

“When Maki said she was going to sacrifice herself, I thought… why? So many of our friends have sacrificed their lives. Why Maki? Why now? Why do we have to go through it again? The sorrow of losing Kaede… and Kaito.” 

_I am getting very, very tired of waiting. And I do not like where this is going._ But the audience’s attention is still glued to Shuichi’s monologue, so she can’t interrupt. Yet, she has a funny feeling— call it survivor’s intuition— that this is going down a dangerous path.

“... I **_refuse_ **to vote… if a single vote is not cast for either hope or despair… the audience would hate it. They’d never accept an ending like that. So I abstain! I refuse to give the outside world what it wants! I won’t vote for Kiibo or Tsumugi! I reject both hope and despair!” He finishes, exhaling deeply. Maki, Himiko, and Kiibo are at a loss for words. The two girls remain stock still, while the latter rocks back and forth, clearly reeling from another blow to his conscience. 

Fine, if they want to be like that, then so be it.

She argues with him halfheartedly as the detective continues to blather on and on, impatient to get to the final vote. This is all very adorable of her protagonist— he’d come such a long way from the timid boy she’d written him as, but it was time to end this nonsense. Worst case scenario… she’d have to remind the audience about a little trick up they had up their sleeve. “... Shuichi… !” Kiibo brightens.

“Tsumugi… you’re right. I’m weak. I’m weaker than everyone else… if I didn’t have my friends, I’d be useless. That’s true even now!” Shuichi shoots Kiibo a grateful look. 

“If Kiibo and Maki didn’t stand up, I would have ended it all there. It’s because I’m weak and because I lost my way… that I finally realized. I finally realized how cruel this ‘hope’ really is.” She almost explodes right there. Of COURSE it was cruel! It was supposed to be! That was the whole point of it! The best kind of entertainment, the ones that got views… they were always sensational! Dramatic! Leaving a person wanting more like the addicts they all were!

It wasn't just a game to the outside world, it was a philosophy! Danganronpa was a timeless, revolutionary example of that, just because _no one_ ever got tired of underdogs prevailing against all but certain despair. No one ever got desensitized to all the violence— it was just a means to an end— because by then, everyone was invested in the protagonist’s development, so that hope could triumph in the end. _It’s so obvious! Danganronpa is changing the world! You could be the face of hope, we could make you great, we could make you immortal! Why WOULDN’T you wanna be a part of us?_

She’s nervous now. She should have stopped this earlier, hell, she should have even silenced the detective before he started sniffing out her true goals. There was a planned fourth wall breaking, yes, but this was going _way too far._ Unconsciously, she changes into Makoto. “H-hold on everyone, If we keep thinking, we can find a better ending and—” 

“Himiko, Maki, will you abstain from voting with me?” _Oh, this isn’t good._

“Nyeh?!” 

“Abstain from voting?”

Frantically, she changes into several characters, desperately trying to guide them back onto the right path. No, no, she needs this to stop right now. The magician is on the brink of a mental breakdown, while the detective continues to coax her… oh, she knows that look. Himiko’s been convinced. He turns his attention to Maki, and suddenly, she gets an idea.

“It could be a part of my script, just like Maki falling for Kaito, y’know? Cuz if none of you vote and I do, then I’ll be the only one who survives! Doesn’t that sound like something the big bad mastermind would come up with?” There. That has to be a compelling argument, not only including sound logic, but also the sore spot. The assassin reels from the blow, sweating furiously.

… And then, the detective had to go and _fuck_ it all up by saying _THAT word._

“It’s okay, Maki. Just **_believe_ ** in me. And **_believe_ ** in yourself just like you believed in Kaito.” 

“Believe… in myself?” As the two continue to talk, her eyes snap towards the robot, still deep in contemplation. But she’s forced to cut her thoughts short as Maki straightens, reaffirming her trust in Shuichi, her pleads to _just fucking listen to her already—_ this really isn’t good. Why aren’t they DOING anything? They’re just standing there, doing NOTHING!

“Are you okay with that, Kiibo? Is your inner voice telling you that’s okay? Does the outside world really want that?! Do they really want Danganronpa to end!? Hey! What are they saying?! What’s your inner voice saying?!” Beads form on her face, fogging up her glasses. She has to know. There’s no way the outside world wants it to end here.

“My inner voice doesn’t matter anymore! I’m going to end this game with my frie—”

**_OH NO YOU DON’T!_ **

_BZZT!_

**_How dare you go against the viewers, the people that have made YOUR EXISTENCE possible. You owe them!_ **She can barely hold back the insane peal of relieved laughter as Kiibo jerks violently with the electronic shock, before a shiver goes down his entire body. 

_They want it to continue! AH-HAHAHAHA! Why did she doubt herself?_ Frantically, the other three cry out his name, but he does not respond. Of course he wouldn’t. After all, the audience had just erased his personality. It was a shame that another of her characters had to die, but he was just another pawn in the grand scheme. Disposable.

“Ah-hahaha! See? They don’t want that kind of ending, they want the killing games to continue! That… is the outside world’s decision!” They don’t listen to her, though, and continue to scream his name, while Kiibo’s glowing blue eyes stare back at them mutely. She watches as they continue to beg Kiibo to come back as he ignores them, solely at the will of the outside world now. Not even the sudden return of his old self (she sees the fleeting relief on everyone’s face, only to get snatched away) makes her bat an eye, because with the outside world on her side, there’s nothing that she can’t do. Garbled cries of 'hope,' 'despair,' and other phrases that she can’t recognize spew out of Kiibo’s mouth, while his body jerks around wildly, fighting for control. Meanwhile, Shuichi had long gone off the deep end, yelling something worthless about how ‘their lives were their weapons.’ 

Pah! What use was there trying to talk sense into him? The audience has never failed her. They won’t ever fail her now, either.

In a last ditch, Shuichi shouts, “WE’RE GOING TO END DANGANRONPA WITH OUR OWN HANDS!” Everything shatters, and both sides back down, panting heavily. This defiance, while new, is something she is perfectly capable of handling. After all, the greater the struggle, the more compelling their stories.

_That’s what you think, my dear protagonist! Hope, despair, it doesn’t matter to me in the end, take your pick! Junko Enoshima is inevitable, and you will meet your end!_

“... Like I said, it’s pointless,” she pushes her glasses up, “the outside world will never let Danganronpa end. Everyone... _loves..._ Danganronpa. That’s reality! Killing game entertainment will continue forever!” Time ticks down until voting time begins, and at last, she can take a breath. She’s been more than generous with the amount of time allotted for… frivolities, but she _really has a show to be getting on with._

“Now then…” Monokuma pipes up, “let’s proceed with Voting Time! Puhuhu… I think hopeful Kiibo should vote for despairing Tsumugi, without a doubt! Cuz that’s what the outside world wants to see!” The aforementioned robot only can look back at everyone, expressionless. Cheerily, she spreads her arms wide, reveling in the attention.

Blue eyes still clouded with insanity, Tsumugi Shirogane, Ultimate Cosplayer (oh, she’s been waiting for so long to say it out loud, she’d spent hours in the mirror rehearsing for this moment) utters the familiar phrase that Danganronpa fans had come to know… and love.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! Presenting… one last Voting Time!” 

She locks in her choice confidently.

* * *

“Voting Time is over! Now let’s see what you bastards have all chosen as your fates… ! Will it be hope, or will it be despair?” Second by second, each vote is revealed, and she grins as she prepares to reveal her trump card. The cosplayer is more than capable of improvising to get things back on track. _I will have my game._

_Shuichi Saihara… no vote. Maki Harukawa… no vote. Himiko Yumeno… no vote._

_Tsumugi Shirogane… no vote._

The characters’ faces pale upon realizing that she hadn’t voted, while her smile broadens. Clearly, her mind games had worked, inducing paranoia and doubt about her plans. They are _hers_ in the end, and she knows them well. There is no disobeying the word of their creator, after all. And now, she waits for the final vote from the audience that will seal their fate. _Danganronpa WILL continue to live on!_

_…. K1-B0… no vote._

“Huh?” Her mouth is slightly ajar. Why didn’t he vote?

“All five of us… abstained from voting?” The assassin speaks slowly, mulling over what had just happened.

“Haa… thank goodness.” Shuichi exhales, tension leaving his shoulders. 

She shoves herself back from the podium in disbelief. “Wh, why… ? Eh? What the hell is going on?”

“... The world has changed.”

_WHAT? No! No! NO! This isn't how it’s supposed to go! You can’t just— !_

Dumbly, she repeats her question. “Huh?” The cosplayer whirls to look at the screens. Once continually spiking, the ratings are now plunging before her very eyes, and one by one, they start to flicker. They can’t ALL possibly be agreeing to abstain! The robot was programmed to obey the will of the audience! She’s floundering now, having not expected this. 

“.... Huh?” The word sounds like a broken record.

Shuichi’s face is grim. “The fact that Kiibo ‘abstained from voting means the world has changed. The people from the outside world that took control of him… they decided to deny… this killing game.”

“Wh— what’s with that?” _No. No. This can’t be. They love Danganronpa. They love the killing games. They love me._

“You should know! This is all because you went ahead and broke those messed up rules of yours!” Himiko jabs a finger at her, accusatory.

_I don’t understand… NONE of them want this? Not even a single viewer?_

“Wait… a second! A-Are you really okay with this?! Danganronpa’s going to end, you know? This killing game of suspicion… in which friends always doubt and betray one another… just letting it come to an end like this all of a sudden in the 53rd season… are you really okay with this?” Her frantic words are uttered in the characters’ direction, but she’s really talking to the blank screens behind them. She needs an answer. From them. The people that actually matter.

Gray eyes steel in response, and the protagonist crosses his arms. “Your worlds won’t influence the outside world anymore. You looked down on our deaths and our feelings, and even on fiction itself! So this result is proof that no one wants to see the fiction you create anymore!”

_The fiction… I… create… no one… wants to see it… anymore? But… but… I..._

As if powered by her audience (arguably, she was), the cosplayer deflates. Everything goes hazy as her eyes glaze over. “... The conclusion… the finale… the end…” 

Her hand rests on her cheek delicately. “It… really is… over now, huh.” There's nothing she can do about it. Right? She hadn't considered this outcome.

The magician toys with her hat, looking suspicious. “Anyway, what are you planning to do now? Since things turned out this way, I don’t really think there’s a need for a penalty anymore, but… ?” 

Suddenly, Monokuma pops out, having been silent the entire time on his chair. “It’s no good if we leave the conclusion half-finished. We have to see this thing out to the end in a way that’s most fitting for Danganronpa.” His voice lacks any of the sadistic cheer it had from earlier, and it sounds more mechanical than ever. Yet another reminder that it was all fiction, as much as she would have loved to stay... forever and ever.

She nods. “That much… is the least we can do.” The mastermind won’t go down without a proper grand finale.

Dull red eyes widen. “S… So it’s like that, after all.” Himiko begins to shiver at the prospect.

“Besides that… If we were to survive after all of this, that might lighten the weight of our sacrifice… and that might lead to people trying to start the killing game back up one day.” 

Maki purses her lips, clearly not enjoying the detective’s implication. “So, in other words, the only way to stop the killing game is with our deaths…” 

_They’re really just okay letting it all end like this? Just walking straight into death? Why… ?_

“F-fine, I understand! Then we have no choice but to prepare ourselves for the worst and accept our fate!” Clutching her fists together, the magician steps towards Shuichi, determined to stare certain death boldly in its face.

Her shoulders drop. “To think… that it would end with everyone being wiped out like this. I never expected an ending like this, so I never prepared a fitting execution for this scenario… that’s why I’ll leave it to you, Kiibo.” The robot perks up upon mention of his name, blue eyes flashing. _Click. Click_. Blasters appear from where they had been hidden, ready to be fired at a moment’s notice.

“... Understood. I’ll carry it out. I’ll put an end to this killing game with my own two hands. And to this fiction as well. This is… the decision of the outside world. Destroying everything within this fictional world and putting an end to this killing game. This is… what the outside world decided.” 

_They don’t want Danganronpa anymore. They don’t want_ **_me_ ** _anymore._ She can’t believe this is really the voice of her beloved viewers. As a member of Team Danganronpa, she is obligated to serve the people of the outside world. But if this is what they want…

“Even though we created all of this… and it continued for 53 seasons… all of it is going to be destroyed now. Well, that’s fine… just thinking about a world in which you can’t enjoy these fictional killing games… _I’ll_ be the one to deny that. _After all, I’ve got no interest in a world without Danganronpa.”_

_Well if this world didn’t want her anymore… she didn’t want it either. She had her pride._

The magician lets out a dejected sigh. “So it looks like this is it for us, huh. Absolutely no survivors… if you look at that result, it just seems like some sort of bad joke.” 

Maki hesitantly puts a hand on Himiko’s shoulder. “But that really does mean this is the end. At last, we won’t have to suffer from this killing game.”

Shuichi walks over, putting his on Maki’s arm in turn. “... Let’s go out with our heads up high. At the end, we really did manage to change the world. If this whole world is fiction, then maybe everything we’ve done is also nothing but lies. But those lies could change the world. Even if we’re nothing but fictional existences, made into someone else by other people… we could still change the world.”

She snaps out of her reverie. _They… they’re at least aware that I made them. Maybe… through them, I can still… ?_

“You’re right… I feel the same.” _Does she really?_

They look at her curiously. “Even the fact that the whole plan came crumbling down at the very last minute means I really did manage to create a successful ‘imitation.’ So… as a ‘Copycat Criminal’,” she bites back the ‘cosplayer’ before it slips out, “it’s okay for me to go out with my head held high too, right?”

_Why do you keep trying to lie to yourself, Tsumugi?_

“... Copycat criminal?” Shuichi raises an eyebrow, clearly about to question her further, but everyone’s attention is soon drawn to Kiibo, who has started to emanate a low hum. Ah, his jet pack.

“... Well then, let’s begin. No, let’s end it! This is the decision of the outside world!” 

The rest of the trio’s words fall on deaf ears.

* * *

Rocks fall from the sky, showering granules with each blast that ricochets against the trial room’s walls. She doesn’t know where the other three have run off to— not like they matter anymore to her. The story’s timeline has long changed, and they are no longer characters to her, not when they rejected the autonomy she’d laid out for them carefully.

 _BAM!_ She peeps out, and sees a large gaping hole up at the top of the academy. There goes the fifth floor— oh, the irony of destroying a chapel with such force. One by one, the floors of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles fall, and the cosplayer hurries, dodging shrapnel.

She can’t die like this. Not when she still has to give everyone one last goodbye. _BOOM!_ The ground shakes, and another gap shows that the outdoor veranda has been reduced to rubble.

 _Haah, haah… hah. I made it._ Huffing and puffing, she scrambles up onto the stairs of the school’s front door, just as the first glass wall shatters, revealing bright white light— ahh… the hope of the outside world. 

_Ugh, hope. What would_ **_she_ ** _do in this situation?_ Closing her eyes, the cosplayer gives into _her,_ channeling all her energy into her last, best imitation of the iconic mastermind. With each arm motion, she swaps back and forth, seamlessly switching between outfits. At her side, the mascot waves as well.

_Puhuhuhu… giving it everything we've got, until the bitter end._

Junko Enoshima, broadly grinning at her audience.

Tsumugi Shirogane, frown deepening with a forced chin up.

Junko Enoshima, cheerfully despairing, even in the face of hope.

Tsumugi Shirogane, waving mechanically as her heart shatters with each explosion that shakes the school.

In her time in the simulation, she’d come to view the academy as a second home— even an extension of her psyche. There is nothing in there that she doesn’t know like the back of the hand; all of its secrets, the locations and potentials that spring out of them. Hell, she’s probably spent more time there than she has at home in the past year. 

So of course, she knows what’s coming for her, but the obligation to her project requires that she see Season V3 out to the bitter end, before she wakes up and comes back to reality. She doesn’t want to wake up from this dream. The shadow beneath her grows larger, and she does not want to face the end. It might have been okay with the audience, but this isn’t _really_ okay with _her._

 _This isn’t the ending_ **_I_ ** _wanted… !_

And in that moment, Tsumugi Shirogane feels true despair for the first time in her life, as she can do nothing but wave goodbye as everything she had worked for, her entire world— Danganronpa— crumbles at her very feet. 

_So long… farewell… my one love, Danganronpa._

**Author's Note:**

> Did way too much parsing through Chapter 6's trial to use proper canon quotes for most of this. Most lines are canonical, but I ad-libbed one or two.


End file.
